“Then… the person you’re waiting for, have you found them?”
Tunshe Nalin said nothing.
As if feeling thirsty, his adam apple slid, he raised his hand, picked up the copper cup on the table, and sipped the scarlet liquid in the cup.
—It was clear that he didn’t want to talk much about the person he was waiting for, just as I didn’t want to discuss Ming Luo with anyone. After the dangerous situation earlier, I hadn’t felt cold as I was still in a state of agitation, but now, as I sat quietly, the chill slowly seeped into my robes. The candlelight from the bone tower couldn’t possibly warm me. I tightened my collar, glancing at his thin yet luxurious cross-collared robe. Wearing so little, didn’t he feel cold? Or had the mountain folk already gotten used to the temperature here? Shivering, I couldn’t help but remind him, “Tunshe Nalin, don’t you want to put on more clothes? You might catch a cold.”
“I’m not, cold,” He paused for a moment, then asked, “Are you, cold?”
“A-a little.”
Tunshe Nalin stood up straight, took two of the brightest skull candlesticks from the bone tower, and placed them in front of me. “Stay here and wait, don’t wander off.”
“Ah, alright.” I was stunned for a moment, watching him pass by the bone tower and walk deeper into the cave. Before long, his figure disappeared into the darkness.
The cave grew silent, eerily so, like an empty ancient tomb. A cold draft blew from behind, and the wind howled in the dark. Fear gripped me, and I quickly turned from kneeling to sitting on the ground, worried that something might come creeping in from the cave entrance, leaving me unable to defend myself.
At that moment, a soft voice came from my side: “Come…”
It seemed to be the voice of a man. I turned to look in that direction, but beyond the candlelight, there was nothing but darkness. I couldn’t see anything at all.
“Come…” The voice called again.
“Tunshe Nalin, is that you?” I had a feeling he was calling me, so I hesitated briefly before grabbing the skull candlestick beside me, rising to my feet, and heading toward the voice.
“Tunshe Nalin?”
The candlelight revealed my surroundings, but no one was there. Only stalagmites rising from the ground, stone columns stretching from floor to ceiling, and cave walls adorned with stone waterfalls. In the flickering glow, everything appeared to ripple, as if melting into liquid.
“Come…”
The voice grew closer, coming from a deep crevice. My scalp tingled with fear, but I forced myself to walk over. Sure enough, I saw the silhouette of a figure.
“Tunshe Nalin!”
I called out, quickening my pace. When the candlelight finally illuminated the shadow, a chill ran down my spine. It wasn’t Tunshe Nalin—it was a statue… a stone statue.
It seemed to be carved from naturally formed stalactite columns, retaining the layered textures of the stone waterfalls. However, due to later refinement, it appeared extremely detailed and lifelike. The statue wore a uniquely shaped pointed hat on its head, and its shoulders were adorned with intricate, decorative shoulder armor, resembling the appearance of an ancient shaman from the Jiangsu regions. Yet, the statue’s expression and posture were horrifying. Its face was tilted upward, empty eye sockets staring into nothingness—while its eyeballs rested in the upturned palms of its hands, raised to its face.
I couldn’t help but glance upward, my hair standing on end. At the very tip of the hanging stalactite, there was a massive vulture carved into the stone, as if a cold and indifferent deity was looking down, ready to swoop down and snatch the eyeballs, yet too disdainful to make the effort.
The entire set of statues looked as though the shaman was performing a sacrifice, or perhaps undergoing a cruel punishment. I was so shocked by this terrifying yet unique piece of art that I forgot to be afraid. I circled behind the statue, wanting to observe it from all angles. But from the corner of my eye, I noticed a shadow on the right. As the candlelight fell upon it, I jolted in surprise, realizing it was yet another statue. Unlike the one on my left, this one… was performing a heart extraction. The heart, too, was held in the hands, raised high, with the vulture statue positioned atop it.
This is…
Instinctively, I raised the candle high, hoping to see if there were any other similar statues.
“Come…”
Suddenly, a voice echoed from nearby.
I jolted, turning my head, and caught a glimpse of the statue’s shadow on the cave wall. Without thinking, I instinctively looked toward the statue, and my scalp immediately went numb.
The statue clearly had both hands raised, holding the eyeballs. But the shadow… the shadow showed the palms facing down, with the fingers spread wide, as if it were about to grab something.
I was so scared that I turned to run, but suddenly, my wrist was tightly gripped by an icy hand. The candle lamp fell with a loud “crack” and shattered, plunging the area into total darkness. I was forcefully pulled backward, my back slamming against the cave wall. Something heavy and cold descended over me from above—it was thick, slippery fabric.
A cold, eerie voice whispered in my ear, “Didn’t I tell, you, not to wander off?”
“Tunshe Nalin?” I couldn’t see anything. My free hand instinctively reached forward, brushing against his chest—it was as hard and cold as ice.
How does this person usually train…? His chest muscles are unbelievably hard and firm.
“I heard a sound… were you calling me?” I was about to pull off the fabric covering my head and face when I heard a “whoosh,” and both my arms were suddenly bound. I stumbled a few steps as I was dragged, only then realizing that Tunshe Nalin had wrapped me in a piece of clothing and fastened a belt around it. Although I knew he went to get the clothes because I said I was cold, this… probably made him angry.
I could only laugh and apologize, “Hey, Tunshe Nalin, are you wrapping me up like a dumpling? Alright, I shouldn’t have wandered around in your territory. I was wrong, alright?”
The pulling ceased, but the bindings remained. I stood rigid, unable to see, yet I could sense a gaze—cold and spectral—creeping up from my toes. It felt as though it pierced through the thick fabric, tracing and exploring every inch of my skin.
This feeling was so strange… Tunshe Nalin is blind, after all.
“Tunshe Nalin?” Goosebumps prickled on my skin as I called out again, still forcing a smile. “If you keep binding me like this, I’m going to misunderstand.”
I wasn’t sure if he understood the ambiguous meaning behind my joke or not—most likely, he didn’t. After all, I wasn’t a young woman, and this mountain was probably not civilized to that extent.
As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I wasn’t sure if I had offended him.
With a soft “whoosh,” my arms were released, and the bindings loosened. The heavy robe slid off, and before me stood Tunshe Nalin, his figure illuminated by the firelight.
Beneath the black cloth, his face remained expressionless, showing no sign of emotion. Yet, I could sense a cold, dangerous aura approaching, like the eerie, flickering ghostly flames burning in a grave.
—It seemed like I had truly angered Tunshe Nalin. And my instinct told me that he wasn’t someone without a temper. The consequences of provoking him were something I definitely wouldn’t be able to handle.
I gave him an apologetic smile, but before I could apologize again, he turned away and picked up a lamp from the bone tower. “Follow, me.” He said.
I was stunned. “Where to?”
He slightly turned his head. “You want to, sleep outside?”
I could understand. Despite this beauty’s odd personality, he was kind and considerate. He worried I might be cold, so he gave me clothes, and now he was even willing to let me stay.
Although this place is really creepy… I turned my head to look in the direction of the strange stone sculpture, picked up the robe he lent me and put it on, then took two steps at a time to catch up with him.
After going up a stone staircase and entering the depths of the cave, a huge white shadow was illuminated by the candlelight. When I looked closely, I felt shocked and horrified again.
This is also a human-shaped statue, but it is much larger than the stone sculptures I just saw. It is pale and translucent and seems to be carved from giant clam or jade. Its face is covered with golden tassels, and its body is engraved with dense and strange blood-red spells. It sits cross-legged on a huge base carved into the shape of red petals. There are four pairs of arms behind it, some holding strange instruments, some holding skulls, and some feeding vultures. One pair of hands was pressed back-to-back, forming a downward “pinching flower” shape.
I noticed that the torma placed in front of this statue were much larger and taller than those in front of the bone tower. They weren’t just made of dough; they were mixed with various sizes of gemstones. At a glance, I could easily distinguish among them agate, malachite, lapis lazuli, amber, and even uncarved jade. It was clear that the offerings were made with great reverence.
I now concluded that what I was looking at was a statue of a deity, though its appearance was quite sinister.
Could this be the “Corpse God Lord” they spoke of?
Driven by curiosity about the statue’s appearance, I reasoned that since Tunshe Nalin couldn’t see, he wouldn’t notice if I took a quick look. So, I moved closer to the statue, tilting my head to peer into the golden tassels. But just then, a soft voice from ahead asked, “What are you, doing?”
I looked up, and Tunshe Nalin was still facing away from me, not turning around. Yet, it felt as if he had eyes on the back of his head, sensing every move I made.
“Nothing, my clothes got caught.” I quickly withdrew my hand, afraid he might misunderstand that I was eyeing the offerings. I couldn’t help but wonder if his hearing was incredibly sharp, able to catch even the faintest of sounds that others would easily overlook, such as the rustling of fabric…
As I thought about it, I glanced at my own attire and was struck by how luxurious the robe that Tunshe Nalin had lent me truly was. It seemed to be made of fine leather, either horsehide or sheepskin, incredibly soft to the touch. The dark gold embroidery on it appeared subtly in the dim candlelight, with every type of gemstone I had seen in the offering plates scattered throughout the design. The collar and cuffs were especially elaborate, adorned with embroidered borders of gemstones and trimmed with silver-gray fox fur.
I couldn’t help but touch the embroidery patterns and was extremely surprised.
Having spent years in the art world and frequenting auction houses, I have interacted with many antique experts and, through their connections, have seen numerous vintage clothes from both domestic and overseas collections. I can tell that the embroidery on this robe is the legendary “Cuo Jin Fu Luo” technique, a lost art from ancient Jiangsu. This means that it is undoubtedly an antique. The few remaining “Cuo Jin Fu Luo” robes in the country are said to have come from the tomb of a powerful lord in ancient Jiangsu. The one I saw before wasn’t nearly as intricately embroidered as this one, and its value could easily fetch a sky-high price in the hundreds of millions. The robe that Tunshe Nalin lent me is fit for display in a national museum and would undoubtedly be a treasure of the collection.
What kind of person is Tunshe Nalin to casually wear such priceless antique garments? His family background must be truly exceptional…
I found it hard to believe, and my mind wandered with thoughts. As he led me past the massive shrine, we entered a stone forest and crossed a stone bridge.
Beneath the stone bridge, a winding dark river curled like a giant serpent, its depths unfathomable.
Perhaps it was the strange events of the night that unsettled me, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was lurking in the water. I kept wanting to look down, yet fear held me back. In my paranoid state, I caught a glimpse in my peripheral vision of several white shapes drifting beneath the bridge, eerily resembling floating corpses.
I looked down and was startled to see several skeletal hands, pale and bony, gripping the sides of the bridge. A few decaying skulls bobbed up and down, their jaws opening and closing as if mocking me with a sinister grin. The scene was hauntingly reminiscent of the nightmare from the previous night.
The atheism that I firmly believed in was shattered to pieces that night without leaving any trace.
“Tunshe Nalin!” I took two steps forward and grabbed his shoulders. It was strange to say that the moment I touched him, the ghost hands that were grabbing the bridge disappeared without a trace, but the long white shadows on the water surface were still looming, like crocodiles patrolling back and forth under the water.
“This place…” My teeth chattered, and my words came out a little garbled. “Tunshe Nalin, should we… go back to the village as soon as possible? I think I really saw a ghost.”
“It’s more, dangerous, outside at night.” Tunshe Nalin half-knelt straight down, holding my ankle with his cold hands, “They, like outsiders. If you get close to me, they won’t, be able to smell you.”
I was stunned, staring at his back covered with long black hair.
This, this, this, he can see ghosts? No, isn’t he blind? Can he sense that there are ghosts here and has experience with people and ghosts living together?
Is he… is he going to carry me?
We had just met, and I hadn’t even had the chance to use my charm on the muse I had my eye on yet, and now he might think I’m too scared to even walk. My pride…
“Ai, no need…” I forced a smile embarrassedly.
“Whoosh—”
Just as I was hesitating, I felt a wet touch on the back of my neck, like being licked.
I threw myself on Tunshe Nalin’s back and even wrapped my arms around his neck in a cowardly way. I mustered up the courage to turn my head and look, but there was nothing behind me, and even the ghosts under the bridge disappeared without a trace in an instant.
Damn, do the ghosts here really only bully outsiders?
